BP’s $20m investment last week in StoreDot, the Israeli developer of ultra-fast-charging batteries, was small change in comparison with the billions of dollars poured into oil and gas each year by the UK energy group. But it added to a series of recent deals by BP and its rivals aimed at giving them a position in the electric vehicle (EV) technology, which many analysts believe will eventually push global oil demand into decline.
“They are trying to figure out what can replace the best cash cow in the world, which is a very hard problem,” said Olaf Sakkers, partner at Maniv Mobility, an Israeli venture capital group specialising in transportation technology. As well as investing in StoreDot, BP agreed a partnership in May with NIO Capital, a Chinese private equity group, to invest in “advanced mobility” technology in China. This followed its January acquisition of a stake in FreeWire, a US company developing rapid-charging infrastructure for EVs. Royal Dutch Shell last year bought NewMotion, a Dutch operator of one of Europe’s largest EV-charging networks, while Total is developing next-generation EV technology through its Saft battery business, acquired for $1.1bn in 2016.